Switch
Jimmy: I'm not saying it didn't have its moments, but all the stuff I liked about it - selling people, convincing people - I don't have to be a lawyer to do that.
In present day, "Gene" is about end his daily shift at the Cinnabon, and heads to the mall garbage room to take out the trash. He is accidentally locked inside, and tries calling out for help to no avail. He notices an emergency exit, but opts not to use it, as it would trigger an alarm and alert the police, who could potentially recognize him. When he is finally let out by a janitor two hours later, he has carved the message "S.G. was here" into the wall.
We now see what happened between Jimmy walking to the courthouse and him driving into the horizon - after Kim denies that their relationship is conditional on him taking the job at Davis and Main, he bluntly turns down his new job opportunity. He decides to quit being a lawyer and starts running cons at a nearby hotel, lounging in their pool. Kim visits him for a drink at the hotel bar, where Jimmy convinces her to run a scam on an obnoxious and inconsiderate stockbroker named Ken. After successfully conning him out of an expensive bottle of tequila, the two spend the night together.
Meanwhile, when Pryce shows up in a brand-new Hummer H2 to pick up Mike for another meet with Nacho, Mike decides to part ways with him for being too conspicuous. Pryce meets up with Nacho anyway; Nacho secretly finds Pryce's real name (Daniel Wormald) and home address in the glove box of his Hummer. Wormald later finds his home ransacked, and his cash stash stolen. He calls the cops, but tells them that the only thing missing is his baseball card collection. As the cops investigate, they become suspicious and feel that Wormald is obviously hiding something.
After another day at the pool, Jimmy decides to take the job at the Davis & Main law firm after all. The episode ends with him settling into his new office. A light switch in the office has a piece of tape on it with instructions to never turn it off. When Jimmy does anyway, nothing happens.
This episode provides examples of:
- Absence of Evidence: Daniel discovers that someone has broken into his house. While he spins a story about the thief being after his antique baseball cards, the two police officers who respond don't seem to buy it. Furthermore, once he's out of sight, they notice something wrong with the burglary: there's a lot of clutter on the floor from the ransacking, but there's a cleared space in front of the couch that's shaped as if the couch was pulled out after the burglary. This leads them to push aside the couch and find the place where Wormald hides his cash.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When Ken is telling Jimmy to diversify his investments, he warns him that not doing so could be like "investing in the Hindenburg, the Andrea Doria, or Corky Romano".
- Awesome, but Impractical: Daniel Wormald's new Hummer H2. It's flashy, and chock-full of features that make it quite comfortable to be in while the bright-yellow-with-red-flames paint job and spinners are great at drawing attention. Which is exactly the opposite of what you want for a vehicle that you will be bringing to a quick and discreet drug deal. Additionally, the fact that it's so expensive immediately makes the cops suspicious when they see it parked in the driveway of his relatively small house. And even the "Awesome" part can be debatable because other characters see it as gaudy and ugly (Mike calls it a "Mid-Life Crisis Car" at one point, and at a later point, Nacho calls it a "school bus for six-year-old pimps").
- Call-Back: When he's settling into his new office, Jimmy asks for a cocobolo desk.
- Call-Forward: Walt and Jr. also buy obnoxious cars (a Dodge Challenger and a Chrysler 300) that scream "I'm dealing drugs", and promptly get chewed out for it in a similar manner.
- Cold Open: As with the first season premiere before it, the episode opens with a flash-forward to Jimmy/Saul/Gene's post-Breaking Bad life as a Cinnabon manager.
- Conspicuous Consumption: Daniel's Hummer, complete with painted flames and spinning rims, looks like something out of a Pimp My Ride episode.
- Continuity Nod: Breaking Bad Easter Eggs are aplenty.
- The $50-a-shot tequila Jimmy and Kim trick Ken Wins into paying for at the bar is Zafiro Añejo, the same brand of tequila Gustavo Fring will use to poison Don Eladio and his crew in "Salud."
- Ken, the Bluetooth-wearing douchebag who will have his car destroyed by Walter White returns, getting tricked into paying for a very expensive dinner bill.
- One of the two police officers who comes to Wormald's house will also visit Walt and Skyler's house later in the future.
- Evil Feels Good: Kim's reaction to helping Jimmy con Ken on paying for their dinner.
- Left the Background Music On: Inverted: we once again get the scene of Jimmy driving off while humming "Smoke on the Water", the same scene that ended "Marco"... minus the actual music playing.
- Immediate Sequel: The episode, barring the Flash Forward, opens up during the ending of "Marco". Except here, we actually see Jimmy go to the meeting.... only to turn the offer down.
- Improbably Cool Car: Wormald's Hummer. Lampshaded by both Mike and the two cops.
- "No. Just… No" Reaction:Daniel: I got a new car! You like it?
Mike: We're not taking that to the meet. - Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Mike decides that he'll no longer help Wormald as an enforcer after Wormald acquires his Hummer. Mostly because someone like Wormald, an IT at a pharmaceutical company, is driving a car well above his pay grade, which could attract unwanted police attention. Which it does.
- Shockingly Expensive Bill: After Jimmy and Kim stab Ken with a bill for tequila called Zafiro Anejo, Ken is not too pleased with the amount he's been charged, even asking if he got the right bill.
- Shout-Out: Wormald's new Hummer looks painted just like the Pussy Wagon. Borders on Celebrity Paradox when you consider that the owner of said wagon looks an awful lot like the neo-Nazi Jack, who will show up in Breaking Bad.
- Stupid Crooks: Daniel Wormald is totally clueless about being a criminal. He's lucky enough to have Mike advising him, but then gets cocky and fires him. He buys a pimped-out Hummer H2 and goes to meet Nacho alone with no backup. Nacho gets Daniel's real name and address off his registration, then breaks into his house and steals his cash. Then Daniel checks his hiding spot (leaving a big, conspicuous gap in the debris), and immediately calls the cops to report the break-in.
- Take That!: Ken compares the box office performance of the movie Corky Romano to the real-life wrecks of the Hindenburg and the Andrea Doria.
- Verbal Backspace: Daniel accidentally lets it slip to the cops he had an entire stash of money hidden away that got stolen. He realizes his mistake when one of them asks how much, at which point he shifts focus back to his baseball cards.
- What Does This Button Do?: Jimmy can't help but disobey the sign saying never to turn off the switch. Subverted in that nothing actually happens when he does.
